What do you think?
Rate this book
A Dot on the Map: Selected Stories and Poems
Book by Faik, Sait, Halman, Talat Sait
- GenresShort Stories
Paperback
1 person is currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Sait Faik Abasıyanık
70 books516 followersSait Faik Abasıyanık (18 November 1906 - 11 May 1954) was one of the greatest Turkish writers of short stories and poetry. Born in Adapazarı, he was educated at the Istanbul Erkek Lisesi. He enrolled in the Turcology Department of Istanbul University in 1928, but under pressure from his father went to Switzerland to study economics in 1930. He left school and lived for three years in Grenoble, France - an experience which made a deep impact on his art and character. After returning to Turkey he taught Turkish in Halıcıoğlu Armenian School for Orphans, and tried to follow his father's wishes and go into business but was unsuccessful. He devoted his life to writing after 1934. He created a brand new language and brought new life to Turkish short story writing with his harsh but humanistic portrayals of labourers, fishermen, children, the unemployed, the poor. A major theme was always the sea and he spent most of his time in Burgaz Ada (one of the Princes' Islands in the Marmara Sea). He was an honorary member of the International Mark Twain Society of St. Louis, Missouri.
Sait Faik mostly published under the name Sait Faik, other pen names being Adalı ("Island dweller"), Sait Faik Adalı, and S. F..
There is an award for his name which is given every year on his death anniversary: Sait Faik Hikâye Armağanı
Sait Faik mostly published under the name Sait Faik, other pen names being Adalı ("Island dweller"), Sait Faik Adalı, and S. F..
There is an award for his name which is given every year on his death anniversary: Sait Faik Hikâye Armağanı
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 30, 2022
all over the map
Sait Faik roamed around Istanbul and the islands in the Marmara Sea hobnobbing with fishermen, gamblers, priests, soldiers, clerks, prostitutes, sailors, and thieves. He condemned nobody, empathized with everyone. He smoked, he drank, he had lovers of both sexes, and he drank coffee in a thousand midnight cafes. Faik wrote down the words and conversations, the stories and the tragedies he heard all around him. He was one of those individuals who HAD to write; writing was existence for him. The stories in this volume, the first of his writings that I've ever seen, are never condescending. At times they impart a certain Turkish flavor to an English-speaking reader, but as they seem to be mainly stories that rely on atmosphere more than plot, they cannot always succeed. If you know Turkish, you should read these in the original. Nineteen translators worked on the fifty stories found in A DOT ON THE MAP with mixed results. People like me can only guess what Faik's work might be like, for, I fear, some of these translations are not the best. However, I can say this. Faik was not unique in his need to describe the lives and sagas of common men. Many writers in many lands have felt the same. But just because this passion exists doesn't mean that every story must be a success. Sometimes, in writing as in photography, passion overflows, you take pen or camera in hand and produce a picture of-----your passion, not any definable subject. This is how I felt about a large number of the stories in this volume.
That said, there are a few masterpieces in here, but you have to wade through some pretty ordinary stuff to find them. Each story should hit a target, but a lot of these are all over the map, not limited to a specific dot. On the other hand, the small selection of poetry at the end of the book is brilliant, even in English. Perhaps Faik's feelings were better encapsulated in poems than in stories---poetry is so much more direct and yet capable of finer-tuned emotion at the same time.
Sait Faik roamed around Istanbul and the islands in the Marmara Sea hobnobbing with fishermen, gamblers, priests, soldiers, clerks, prostitutes, sailors, and thieves. He condemned nobody, empathized with everyone. He smoked, he drank, he had lovers of both sexes, and he drank coffee in a thousand midnight cafes. Faik wrote down the words and conversations, the stories and the tragedies he heard all around him. He was one of those individuals who HAD to write; writing was existence for him. The stories in this volume, the first of his writings that I've ever seen, are never condescending. At times they impart a certain Turkish flavor to an English-speaking reader, but as they seem to be mainly stories that rely on atmosphere more than plot, they cannot always succeed. If you know Turkish, you should read these in the original. Nineteen translators worked on the fifty stories found in A DOT ON THE MAP with mixed results. People like me can only guess what Faik's work might be like, for, I fear, some of these translations are not the best. However, I can say this. Faik was not unique in his need to describe the lives and sagas of common men. Many writers in many lands have felt the same. But just because this passion exists doesn't mean that every story must be a success. Sometimes, in writing as in photography, passion overflows, you take pen or camera in hand and produce a picture of-----your passion, not any definable subject. This is how I felt about a large number of the stories in this volume.
That said, there are a few masterpieces in here, but you have to wade through some pretty ordinary stuff to find them. Each story should hit a target, but a lot of these are all over the map, not limited to a specific dot. On the other hand, the small selection of poetry at the end of the book is brilliant, even in English. Perhaps Faik's feelings were better encapsulated in poems than in stories---poetry is so much more direct and yet capable of finer-tuned emotion at the same time.
Displaying 1 of 1 review